We can’t leave any stone unturned’ in search for missing woman

Friday

Volunteers will resume searching today for Jessie M. Davis after a spot some had believed could be a grave turned out to be a newly planted marijuana patch.

Volunteers will resume searching today for Jessie M. Davis after a spot some had believed could be a grave turned out to be a newly planted marijuana patch.
Investigators shut down a section of Highland Park Street NW and sent away searchers and the media after finding a 3-foot by 6-foot section of freshly turned ground in a brushy area about 150 yards from the road.
Agents from the FBI Evidence Response Team sifted through the freshly turned soil and found what turned out to be marijuana growth, Stark County Sheriff’s Capt. Gary Shankle said.
“It’s very frustrating, but we can’t leave any stone unturned,” Shankle said shortly after 7 p.m.
The discovery brought a close to the seventh day of efforts to try to determine what has happened to Davis, who is nine months pregnant and the mother of a 2-year-old boy.
Davis’ mother, Patty Porter of Green, reported her missing June 15.
Porter went to Davis’ duplex on Essex Avenue NW early that morning after not hearing from her the previous day. She found her grandson Blake home alone wearing a dirty diaper. Blake told her: “Mommy was crying,” “Mommy broke the table” and “Mommy’s in rug.”
Porter is the last person known to have talked with Davis, on the telephone about 9:30 p.m. June 13. Bobby L. Cutts Jr. -- Davis’ boyfriend and the father of Blake -- has said that he talked with Davis at about 8 the same night.
Police also have obtained security camera film that shows Davis and her son at a North Canton grocery store at about 6:30 that night.
Media Onslaught
Davis’ disappearance has gained national attention, with crews from major television networks camped outside the Stark County Sheriff’s Department throughout the week.
Investigators are referring to Davis as a missing person. They have been talking with people who know her, but have refused to name anyone as a suspect or a person of interest in the case.
But Cutts has come under close scrutiny during the last week. There have been at least three searches at his Aryshire Avenue NE residence in Plain Township. Wednesday night, more than one dozen FBI agents and a half-dozen sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at the house.
Stark County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Rick Perez wouldn’t discuss the items taken from Cutts’ home -- reportedly more than 100 -- during a Thursday afternoon news conference. Perez mentioned the search but declined to give details “for fear it would hinder the case.”
Investigators still are reviewing Davis’ cell phone records as part of an effort to track her activities before she went missing.
The department still is waiting for DNA tests to determine if a baby found Monday night in Wayne County could be Davis’ child. A newborn baby girl was abandoned at a house outside Wooster.
The FBI has been involved since Monday with efforts to find Davis. The search has become “high priority for us,” Special Agent Scott Wilson said Thursday.
Whitney Davis, a younger sister of the missing woman, said the family is satisfied with efforts to resolve the case.
“I think everyone’s doing the best they can,” she told reporters Thursday.
Search Efforts
Local investigators are getting help from Texas EquuSearch. The search-and-rescue company based in Houston coordinated a volunteer search effort Thursday of the area near Davis¹’ home.
Volunteers will resume searching for Davis at 8:30 a.m. today. Nearly 1,800 volunteers spent seven hours scouring a nine-square-mile radius in Lake Township. Search officials, initially overwhelmed by a turnout six times larger than expected, believed the search went as well as expected.
“We’re doing everything right,” said Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch. “We just haven’t hit the right spot.”
He marveled at the outpouring of community support.
At the Greentown Fire Department, which served as headquarters for the teams and media, volunteers came by SARTA bus or in their own cars that lined side streets and packed nearby business parking lots. American Red Cross volunteers set up post in the fire department’s bays with food and drinks for the volunteers and safety officials.
Safety forces for area departments used all-terrain vehicles, horses and dogs in the search. Stark County Auditor Kim Perez also donated two employees and the office’s Global Positioning Equipment to help give search team leaders aerial photographs of the neighborhoods.
Searchers were called back early around 3 p.m. due to incoming storms. Miller had wanted to search until 7 p.m.
Today, Texas EquuSearch will try to launch an unmanned aircraft that can take hundreds of aerial pictures of the neighborhood that can be used to search for Davis. Bad weather and delays with the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the aircraft Thursday.
Staff writers Tim Botos and Joe Gartrell contributed to this report.
WANT TO HELP?
Residents can volunteer to search for Jessie Davis by going to the Greentown Fire Department today.
The search begins at 8:30 a.m. at 10100 Cleveland Ave. NW in Lake Township. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and have photo identification present.
Search officials advised volunteers to not bring young children or pets, and to wear proper clothing because some of the searches lead into wooded areas.
People wanting to donate food for the volunteers should check with the American Red Cross of Stark County first. Coordinators said they cannot accept homemade foods and worried that if too much food arrived, it would be wasted.
For more information, call the Greentown Fire Department at (330) 494-3002.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.